As the United States tightens its borders and leaders use derogatory language toward refugees, the author revisits a powerful term claimed by their own family: bezhenets.

This Russian word, meaning “the ones who run,” was the only Russian term grandmother Peshke used when recounting her six years as a refugee in the Soviet Union during World War II. However, further research revealed a more nuanced identity adopted by Polish Jews who fled east to Central Asia.

The Distinction Between 'Refugee' and 'Wanderer'

Defining the Journey

While bezhenets is often translated as “refugee” or “asylee,” Polish Jews escaping the Nazi advance adopted the Yiddish word vanderers, or “wanderers.” This term shifts the focus away from simply fleeing danger.

Instead, “wanderers” emphasizes the long, circuitous journey undertaken to locate a secure harbor. The author notes that this intermediary space between suffering and the promised land is where millions remain today.

Passover's Unspoken Chapter

During the Passover Seder, participants symbolically taste bitterness (slavery) and sweetness (freedom). The author suggests that many rush past the crucial 40 years spent wandering in the desert.

This biblical wandering is integral, illustrating human capacity for endurance and the extreme measures people must take to survive. The grandparents’ refugee experience mirrors this, involving difficult choices and unpredictable outcomes.

A Journey Through the Soviet Union

Fleeing West in 1939

The author’s grandparents, Mottel and Peshke, lived in Poland for over a century before fleeing east into the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1939, anticipating the Nazi invasion. This was one of the few available havens for hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews.

However, Joseph Stalin showed little tolerance for those who fled without official orders. The Soviet secret police soon targeted the Polish bezhenets.

Deportation and Forced Labor

Mottel and Peshke were deported from Lviv to Siberia. They endured a harsh year of slave labor, including chopping trees and facing starvation. Their captors warned them the exile would be permanent.

Political shifts in distant capitals soon altered their fate. In 1941, the Soviets released Polish Jews from the Gulag so they could join the Allied forces. Yet, most bezhenets remained unable to leave the USSR.

Finding Strength in Central Asia

The Great Migration

It was at this point that many adopted the name “wanderers,” drawing strength from tradition while in limbo. Most refugees resettled in the Uzbek and Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republics.

Polish diplomat Xavier Pruszynski described the event as “a migration on a gigantic scale.” He observed that Polish Jews involved were likely reminded of their ancestors’ exile in Babylon.

Stops Along the Silk Road

The grandparents moved south toward Muslim Central Asia, citing desires for safety, warmer weather, and proximity to Palestine as reasons for their direction. They traveled by train until Soviet officials blocked their exit at the Iranian border, sending them back to Uzbekistan.

After being rejected from several Uzbek cities deemed too full, Mottel and Peshke settled temporarily in a remote railroad town near Samarkand. They battled typhus and near-starvation; one brother died in jail after being arrested for black market activities.

Birth in Limbo

Despite the desperation, the women maintained dignity, dressing up to stroll by the railroad tracks at night. In this precarious setting, their son, the author’s father, was born in the summer of 1945.

Even with the war over in Europe, the displacement continued for Mottel and Peshke. A subsequent five-year period in German refugee camps brought new English labels: displaced persons, transients, and eventually, refugees.

Arrival and Lasting Lessons

Reaching the U.S.

The wandering finally ceased in 1950 when the grandparents resettled in New York. The author’s father worked hard to catch up with peers and learn English, ultimately becoming the first in his family to graduate high school.

Decades later, at a Passover Seder, the grandmother reacted strongly when the conversation turned to God leading the “chosen people” out of suffering. Peshke responded with a dismissive “feh,” criticizing the focus on a neat salvation.

Honoring the Endurance

The author now understands this reaction: it highlighted too little focus on how Mottel and Peshke endured the wandering—a saga they never knew would end. This suffering was compounded by the massacre of the family members who remained in Poland.

As the author prepares for the Seder, they will pause to reflect on survival in limbo. With the U.S. currently closing doors to refugees and leaders degrading them as “animals,” the author returns to the self-chosen term: wanderers.

Daniela Gerson, an immigration reporter and professor at Cal State Northridge, authored “The Wanderers: A Story of Exile, Survival, and Unexpected Love in the Shadow of World War II.” This piece was produced with Zócalo Public Square.